I'd argue that the character development was on the meandering side than the interesting/will-actually-be-useful-to-the-plot-later-on side. Granted, some people appreciate characters having "me" time as a vehicle for development (which is abundant in OIAL), but I'm one of those that prefer that such scenes are kept concise and are used only to let the story and characters breath (and also makes you appreciate them more when they happen). It's one thing that I genuinely appreciate with Eternum 0.1, in that every scene felt like it actually matters or has purpose. Nothing felt like a waste (as opposed to most of the scenes at the beginning of OIAL, but again, my opinion).